Edge-finishing machine



' Nov. 19, 1929.

F. RICKS ET AL EDGE FINISHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 9. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l g was.

Nov. 19, 1929. .F. RICKS ET L EDGE FINISHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 9. 1928 2 ShB BtS- -Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 199, 1929 Me t rnnn amas'mm mm EDWARD "jzonenns, or LEICESTER, nnennnn, AssIGNORS '20 UNITED snon MACHINERY conronarron, on rnrnnson, NEW JERSEY, A- con- 1 ;.PORATION or NEw JnnsEY nnen-rrnrsnrne vzecnrnn Application filed January 931928, Serial No. 245,499, and. in Great Britain February 12, 19.27.

* This invention relates to machines for finishing the edges ofsheet material, su'clras leather,- andto 'that type of machine in wh ch means is employed 'forshrinking or sea'rlng aportion of the margin of the material.

In edge finishing leather, especially upper leather for boots and shoes, it has been found that the varying conditions encountered in thethickness ot the material and inits characteristics'due to differences in tannage, make it advantageous insomecases to subject the Work to successive and distinct searing or shrinking operations, or to vary the intensity of the shrinkingaction at different points upon thema'rgin of the material. In other cases, it has been found-advantageous to treat the edge of the Work along lines or zones displaced transversely with respect to the edge. For example, it appears in s'oinecas'es that a more perfect and permanentedge finish 1s secured by subjecting the edge first to a preliminary shrinking operation and then fol lowing this operation after'an interval by a secondary or final shrinking operation, In this Way, the shape desired inthe finished edge may be initiated'and partially secured inthe first operation, while the partially formed edgemay be brought 'doWn upon the body of the Work and the Whole edge given a smooth, compact and rounded configuration in the second operation.

' In those cases Where the margin of the yvork has beenv prepared by a preliminary skiving operation, it has been found desirable to cause one-shrinking action to occuron the skived portion of the blank close to its thinned edge and a secondary shrinking action to occur along-the zone of the juncture of the skived and ilnskived portions, thus obliterating more or less the slight ridge formed at thatpoint. This can be effected to good advantage by a shrinking or searing action concentrated upon that'part of the blank d stinct from a searing action concentrated on the skived portion thereof and designedto produce the actual turning'of the'edge. In oneofits aspects, the'present invent on comprises anedge finishing machine havmg the capacity for handling the Work 1n the manner above set forth. I To this end, an 1mportant feature of the invention consists in shrinking means constructed and arranged to act upon the Work at separate polnts to perform distinct shrinking operations'thereon,

incombination With means for efiecting relatlve feeding'movement of the Workand the shrinking means. i 1

In another aspect, the invention consists in an edge finishing machine having capacity for applylng more effective heat and, conse-i quently, producing a more intense shrinking action in ashorter interval than has been possible heretofore in edge finishingmachines. As herein shown, this result is attained by employing a plurality of edge shrinking or searing tools, each. with independent pro vision for heat control and arranged to act progressively on the edge as it is presented to their action We have in this manner pro-, duced a machine of high efiiciency, capable of operating at aliigher speed than has hereto.- fore been considered practicable and have effected a corresponding saving in the cost of the edge finishing operation.

In another ofits aspects, the'present invention comprises a development and carryingforward of machines of the type disclosed in the co-pending application forLetters Patent ofthe United States Serial No. 1l5-,113,'in which the Work is clamped and fed in a definite predetermined path to shrinking or'seararrest? ing instrumentalities. As embodied in such.

novel method may be carried out by the inechanism herein shown or by any other suitable instrumentalities, being in no sense restricted to any particular form of apparatus. The various features of the invention Will be best understood and appreciated from the "Fi 3 is a view in ers ective on an en-' following description of a preferred embodi- .ment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and'shown in the accompanying drawings, in which h Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine with parts broken away;

I tion of theskiving knife.

Before proceeding to a detail description of the-machine, it will be convenient to consider first its general mode of operation. Re ferring to Fig; 3, a toetip blank 100 is shown as being presented to the action of two shrink-v ing tools located in spaced relation alongthe edge-of the work. The tool 14 is U-shaped, with. its lower 1ne1nberinclined slightlywith reference to the plane of the work. t is electrically heated and. disposed adjacent to, the

curved face of a stationary plow16. The

edge of the work isffed past the plow 16 and in contact with the shrinking tool 14 along a line or zone .just within its margin. The

, tip blank is shown as having a skived edge 102- uppermost.

and is presented to'the tool with its flesh side The action of-the tool 14 consists in shrinking a portion of the flesh side of the blank so that the extreme margin of the work is turned or; curled upwardly to an extent represented in Fig. 3 by'the sectional View of the work at the left of the tool 14. A second shrinking tool 18 is located to the. rear of thetool 14 in the direction of feed. This is similarin shape to the tool 14 but somewhat wider so that it has a more extensive working faceand is, therefore, effective for producing a more intense shrinking action upon the work. Thetool 18 is located in cooperative relation with respect to a plow. 20, similar to the plow 16' but having a cor resp'ondinglylonger acting face and being provided in addition with a turning projection-or'horn 22. The partially formed edge of the work is advanced into range of the tool '18, which increases, intensifies and ex tends the shrinking operation so that the edge of the workis turned. or curled over the body thereof, I i

p In. treating certain kinds of leather, this secondary shrinking operation carries the edge back intov contact with the surface of the material in others, the. turning of the edge'is assisted by the action'of the projection,22 of the plow; and in all cases the turned-up edge. is pressed. lfirmly" back upon thebody of the. blank and caused to adhere I to. itbY-thc. action of the pressure roll 24,

ondary shrinking'tool 18. v I

The illustrated machine comprises a table '12 which supports the various instrumentalities of the machine and is carried by. a frame,

' not shown. The'tool 14 is mounted in the forward end of an arm 26, pivotally mounted for movement abouta horizontal axis between ears projectingupwardly from a- -circular work supporting p'late13 mounted on the table 12. The tool is secured in a'pair of insulated terminals 28, clamped to the end of the arm and connected through leads The normal position of the arm 26 as; to

height is controlled by an adjusting .screw 36, which engages the 'worklplate 13, The

arm carries at its forward end a presser roll 38, adapted to run upon the surface of the work as it is presented to, the action of the tool 14, holding it flat and assisting-in presenting it properly to the actionof the tool and plow, The presser .roll 38 is mounted on the clampblock'40, which carries the :tool 14, and these elements are all carried by a collar mounted on the arm 26 and adjustable bodily longitudinally of the arm 26 and transversely of the work by an adjusting screw 42.

The plow-'16, which cooperates withthe tool 14, is mounted in the forward endof a bar 44, guided for movement, transyerselyto the edgeof the work by ways projecting from the work supporting plate 13, adjustable in its position by means of an adjnstingscrew 46, mounted in a stationary bracket 48;..on the work plate'l3 and threaded into the rear end of the bar 44. It will be understood that by means of the adjusting screw 46 the proper relative position of the tool 14 andtheplow 16 may be secured and maintained, or that the plow 16.may be shiftedtransversely with the tool 14 when it is desired to vary theeffective location of these elements: with referenceto the edge of the work.

The. iron 18 issimilarly mounted' in termi-r nals50 projecting downwardly from a clamping block 52 carried at the forward end of an arm 54, similar to the arm'26 and simi; larly mounted upon the work supporting plate 13. Anadjustingscrew 56..determin,es the vertical position of the arm and an ad; j usti'ng screw 58 is provided for effecting 1ongit-udinal adjustment of the tool 18 and-its associated presser roll 60 upon thearm 54. The iron 18 is, connected. through: leads. 62 to a second choke coil-64, having a movable core 66 for controllingthecurrent-supplied to the iron 18 and, consequently,its-degree of heat. The plow 2O ismountedr in-the-fore ward endof a bar 70, guidedjforimovement by ways. on the work plate-13; and adjusted hy'means of anadjusting screw 72, mounted in a bracket 74. L

The two units lar in their characteristics and have each provision for independent adjustment, so that 18, in the-direction of feed, is located a presser roll 24 for completing the edge finishing operation, as already explained. The roll 24 is mounted upon the forward end of a horizontal shaft 80 journaled in bearings 83 which are movably mounted upon brackets projecting upwardly from the workplate 13.- The shaft carries a'grooved pulley 82 between its bearings which is driven by a round belt 84. This belt is led over suitable idlers to a driving pulley 86 on a shaft 88, journaled in vertical bearings in a bracket 89 projecting from the table 12 near the rear side thereof. The bearings of the shaft 80 are'mounted to permit a slight vertical'movement of the shaft and roll and a tension spring 81, connected to the forward hearing, is provided, as shown in Fig. 4, for press ing the roll 24 against the work with a yielding pressure. The function of the driven roll 24 is to press the edge of the work as it leaves the secondary shrinking tool 18, while the material is in a more or less plastic condition, causingthe turned-up edge to adhere to the surface of the work and compact inga'nd shaping the edge.

The mechanism described to this point could be utilized to advantage with any suitable form of feeding mechanism. As already intimated, we have, however, chosen 4 to combine this mechanism with the clamp feed of such a machineas that shown in co-' pending application Serial 115,113 above referred to, and this mechanism will now be described.

Thetable12has a forwardly projecting arm 90'with an upstanding boss,in which is journaled a vertical shaft 92 having an outward' ly extending arm 94 with a flat work supporting plate 96 and a spring pressed clamping plate 97, carried-by a pivotally mounted arm 98- In Fig. 1, the work clamp is shown as located in its initial or work receiving position, atip blank 100 having been inserted by pressing the'rear end of thearm 98,1ocating the blank l properly in place and releasingthe 'arin 98so that the upper clamping plate 97 will engage and hold'the; work in Position.

' 'Keyed'to-the shaft 92 is a toothed segment 104. The work clamp'may be moved by hand above described are similoading position.

from its positlon shown m'Fig. 1 to engage the toothed segment with a driven pinion 106 fast on the upper end of a vertical shaft 108,

journaled beneath thetable 12Jand'having a V drivingpulley 110 fast on its lower end. This is driven through a belt112 from apulley 114 fast tothe driving shaft 88 above referred to.

It will be apparent that when the toothed segment is moved into mesh with the pinion 106, the work clamp will'be' swung in a counter clockwise direction intothe machine, carrying the work to the various instrumentalities already'descrlbed', whereby its edge 1s finishe-ch'and then carrylng it out'of range of these instrumentalities' andpassing out "of mesh with the-driving. pinion 106. "In such position, the finished blank maybe removed 1 and the work clamp swung by The'machineherein shown includes also hand into reskiving means for beveling or skiving the edge of the blank to be'presented to the edge finishing instrumentalities, although," as already explained, this operation is not required'upon all kinds of work. The skiving means comprises a'flat rotary knife 120 of the Amazeen type, mounted upon the lower end of a shaft 122 ournaled in a yoke 124, a djust-v ably mounted'in. a stationary bracket 126 secured tothe workplate 13. The yoke 124 is connected to the bracket 126 through a curved slot which permits angular adjustment of the skiving knife 120 about the operating point, a clamping-screw 128 being provided' for re taining the parts in any desired position of adjustment.

the work clamp, as clearly shown in Fig. 5.

' The shaft 122 has a collar 130 locatedbev} For guiding the work clamp accurately during theskivin'g operation, there is'provide-d a supporting plate 121 projecting from the work plate 13, and also a guiding and supporting plate 95, curve-d at its edge to correspond to the curvature of the supporting plate 96 of the work clamp, and adapted to underlie the projecting edge of the work 100.

As already stated, the current flowing through the shrinking tools 14 and 18 is reg- 'ulated and their heat controlled by choke coils 32 and 64 respectively. Thisequipment is designed'to operate with an alternating current which is choked or impeded in its flow through each coil by the insertion of a movable core. In accordance with an important feature of the invention, we propose to reduce thecurrent flowing thfr'ough'each core to a minlmum except when the work is being actually presented; to the shrinking,

tools,v To this end,sth'e arm 140, which carries, thecore- 34 is a'djustably secured to an arm l42 p'rojeoting outwardly from a shaft 144,

' extendinglongitudinally of the machine in bearings formed at the edge ofthe-table 12; At its forward end, the shaft 144 carries a downwardly extending arm, 146 connected to a cam lever 148 through a rod 150, having a ball-and-socket joint at each end;.

- The canilever 148 has, at itsit'ront end, a

' cam; roll running upon a cam 152, carried by thevertical shaft 92. The 021111 152 is of such shape that when the, shaft 92 is turned'by the movement of the work clamp toward operatiye position, the cam roll on. the 'arm'l48 v will drop intoja depression, permitting the cam, lever 148 to swing v1n a clockwise (1116C- -tion and through the connections described,

hit the core 34"out of the coil 32 so as to permit the current to flow through the coil and heatfthe shrinking tool 14., On theother hand, when .thezworjk clamp has progressed sufii'ciently to carry the work past this tool, the cam lever 148 is swung in the opposite direction and they core 34-moved into the coil 32, cuttingdown the current and allowing the tool -1'4 to cool, I p

The coil'64 is similarly provided with a core 66earried by an arm 160 and connected to an operating arm 162 on a shaft164, journaled in bearings at the other edge of the table 12.

' The shaft 164 carries a downwardly extendtiming and amount,

ing arm 166 connectedthrougha rod 170 to a canr lever 168, operated by a'second cam 172 secured to the shaft 192 below the cam 152.

The operation ofthis mechanism is similar in controlling; the flow, of current through the coil64 but is independentof the mechanism tor controlling-the flow of current through the coil 32 and may be adjusted to control the heatofthe secondary iron 18, as desired, in

. 'llhevertieal sh 1388, as will be: apparent, serves as, avcominon actuator for the rotary skiving knife120, the presser roll 24, the feed clamp 96 t)? and, incidentally, the heat contro1lingcams152 and .172. 'VItisshownas driven through bevel gears by a horizontal shatt113 journaledin the bracket 89 and having a driving pulley "115 by which it may be 'beltedto any convenlentsource-of power.

5 have outlined the general modeofop eration and'described the construction of the illustrated machine in detail. It will be apparent that -it..is admirably well suited for carryin-gjout thev novel method ofedge finishing which consists-broadly in subjecting each portion of the margin of the work to repeated shrinking operations. 'It has means alsofor, carrying out a method characterized by an additional step ofsubjecting the treatededge to mechanical pressure-afterthe final shrinking operation.

. i In edge finishing a tipblank such thatv shown in the drawings, the blank is first located accurately in the clamps of the feeding e mechanism. 1 The rotary skiving knife 120,

the presservroll- 24, and--the driving pinion- 106 are all -driven C0ntinuously and a small;

current flows through they leads to theshrink- U ng tools 14 and '18, the cores bei ng fully inserted inthech'oke-coils 32 and 64. "The; operator now swings the clamps by hand intoj the machine until the rotating i pinion 10.6; meshes with the segment 104, whereuponthc clamps with the workare, fed continuously and uniformly to carry themargin of the, tip ,first to the skivingknife 120,, then successively to shrinking iron 14, the shrinking iron 18 and thewpresser' roll 24. .Meanwhile,

the heat controlling cams. 152 and -1721have acted through their connections to withdraw first thecore34 and then the core 66 from their respective coils, so that as the work reacheseach iron a surgeotheatoccurswhich lasts until thework is movedbeyond the iron, As the rear end oifthe tip passes. out of range; of thepresserjrol'li24, thesegment 104 rides oft the opinion 106, S0 thatjt-he, mechanical teed terminates and the clamp with theifin ishedtip, therein comes; once; again under the operators controh Having thus describedOurinvention,what we claim as new and 'desire to secure by LettersPatentis: I V. v a i 1. An "edge fin shing machine, having in combinatiQnj shrinking means J constructed and arranged toact upon; the edge-of the work at separate points. to perform distinct shrinking operations thereon, and means for effecting; relativefeeding movement of the workandshrinkin-g means. V a j 2. An edge 7 finishing machine, having in combination shrinking means, constructed andarranged to act upon the'work in areas of different. extent located at separate points 7 alongits edgeand means for relatively feeding the work and shrinkingmeans.

An edge finlshl'llg: machine, having in com'binationfla shrinking tool for performing a preliminary shrinking operationon, the edge of the work, means for relatively feeding the work and tool, and means .for per forming-a secondary shrinking operation pprin the work afterit leaves said shrinking 4.. An edge finishing machine, haying-in 1240 dthen another of said for independent adjustment transversely to direction of feed.

7 An edge finishing machineyhaving in combination a shrinking tool for performing a preliminary shrinking operation on the units being located to act successively upon the edge of work presented to them and having provision for independent adjustment.

10. An edge finishing machine, having in combination a series of shrinking tools arranged for consecutive operation upon the work progressively to fashion its edge, and pressing means constructed and arranged to act upon the edge after it has been operated upon by the last tool of the series.

'11. An edge finishing machine, havingin combination a pluralitv of heated shrinking irons having work engaging portions of progressively increasing effective area and being arranged to operate successively upon the work.

12. An edge finishing machine, having in combination a plurality of units each com: prising a shrinking tool and a plow, the plows having work'engaging faces of progressively increasing effective area, and being arranged to operate successively upon the work.

13'. In an edge finishing machine, means for feeding the work in an established path, and a plurality of edge shrinking units located along the path of the work in position to act progressively upon its edge.

14:. In an edge finishing machine, a plurality of edge shrinking units, and means for r clamping the work and feeding it continuousl and uniforml to present its ed 'e aro 'ressively to the action of the respective units.

15. In an edge finishing machine, a plurality of heated edge shrinking units, a clamp feed for presenting the work thereto progressively, and heat controlling mechanism acting automatically as the work advances to increase the heat of the respective units.

16. In an edge finishing machine,a plurality of heated edge shrinking units, means for mechanically feeding the work to present its edge to one unit after the other, and controlling means operated simultaneously with the feeding movement of the work to. produce a surge of heat in the respective units.

17 In an edge finishing machine, a plurality of heated edge shrinking units, a work feeding clamp, and a plurality of heat controlling cams movable with the work clamp and acting to eifect a surge of heat in one unit after the other as the work is fed progressively into its range.

movable to feed a tip blank about a fixed center, a rotary skiving knife, a plurality. of edge shrinking units and a presser roll located along the curved path of movement of the tip blank and arranged to operate progressively upon its edge. 1

19. The method of edge finishing which consists in subjecting successive portions of the margin of the work to shrinking operations of progressively varying intensity.

18. In an edge finishing machine, a clamp 20. The method of edge finishing which 7 consists in subjecting the piece of work simultaneously at separated localities to a plu-, rality of shrinking operations progressively along its edge.

21. The method of edge finishing which consists in subjecting the edge of the work si-' multaneously at separated localities to a plurality of shrinking operations and then pressing the shrunken edge.

In testimony whereofv we have names to this specificatlon.

FRED KICKS.

signed our ALFRED EDWARD RICHARDS. 

